Chocolate Passionfruit Tart

When I decided on Passionfruit as the first Flavor of the Month, Derek told me one of his favorite truffle flavors was passionfruit. I can totally understand why! Passionfruit and chocolate are such an amazing pairing, the tang of the passionfruit is the perfect complement to the rich chocolate, I wanted to try to create some variety in what I shared this month, but I am sure this won’t be the last passionfruit and chocolate dessert you see here!

Let’s get our tart on!

First you’ll start with the crust. In a medium bowl, mix together the almond meal, brown sugar and melted butter until it’s combined and clumps together. Now pour that mixture into your tart pan. I used a rectangular tart pan that was 11″ by 4″, but this would work in a circular tart pan as well. Press the mixture in all the way up the sides to form a crust. Chill that in the fridge while you make the chocolate ganache.

To make the ganache, put the chocolate and butter in a medium heat-proof bowl. Now heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 3 minutes, or until it’s hot and just starts to bubble. Then pour that cream over the chocolate and butter in the bowl. Stir until the chocolate and butter is melted and smooth.

Take your crust out of the fridge and pour in the ganache. Smooth it out to make it all level and put the filled crust back in the fridge to chill for an hour or until the ganache is solid. You want to wait for the ganache to solidify so that the curd will rest on top and create a nice layered effect.

Now it’s time to make the passionfruit curd. I should apologize right now, because once you know how to make this you’ll want to eat it all the time and on everything. Over your yogurt? Delicious! Cookies dipped in it? Yes! Anyway, you’ve been warned. 😉 Put the passionfruit, egg yolks and sugar in a small sauce pan and whisk until it’s smooth.

Cook that over medium heat for about 4 minutes, or until the mixture coats the back of the spoon and is 160°.

Now take your pan off the heat and stir in the butter, one pat at the time.

Once all the butter is melted, give it a final stir. Push the curd through a fine mesh strainer. Take your ganache-filled almond crust out of the fridge and pour your curd in.

Spread it and level the top. The tart will go back into the fridge to chill for another 2 hours so the curd can firm up.

If you have a kitchen torch, the next step is to brûlee the top of the tart. Unfortunately, this cannot be done under a broiler because the rest of the tart would turn to a gooey mess. Adding the brûleed top gives a nice crisp and smokey element, but the tart is wonderful without out too. Sprinkle a tablespoon sugar evenly on top of the tart. Turn your torch on and slowly move it over the tart until the sugar bubbles and browns.

Now you’re ready to serve. This tart is the perfect blend of flavors and textures. The crust adds a nice crunch, the chocolate lends some creaminess and then the passionfruit is tart. This tart also looks lovely with the dark chocolate contrasting against the bright yellow the passionfruit. While it takes some time, I promise that this tart is totally worth the effort!